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Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Thursday, January 10, 2019
Peace Initiative.
There needs to be a concerted effort made to communicate the values of liberal democracy, secular democracy and free market-based democracy. Efforts in this regard have been wanting for decades and we're paying a dear price for our negligence. We need to take the initiative to propagandize our very positive worldview and social values. Nowhere, is this effort more important than in the Middle East, where extremism has ravished so many innocent people's lives.
So how then, might we go about the task of improving communications in a manner that is sensitive to religious and cultural concerns, yet promotes our worldview and national values. It is possible, I believe, with a concerted effort over the course of perhaps 20 or 30 years to greatly harmonized the worldview and or narrative across all cultures and jurisdictions of concern. The means by which to do this is to establish a partnership with like-minded nations and begin the concerted effort. In a similar manner that we finance NATO, we could finance this concern. In fact, it could be an extension of NATO, save that it might be viewed in a different light than if it were an actual independent entity.
There could be a joint venture created between the major public broadcasters, the BBC, the ABC, CBC, the public broadcasting Corporation in the US etc. All these entities would be brought together and their considerable in-house talent brought to bear on communicating the values of secularism, free-market liberal democracy and to promote peace.
Contemplate if you will, some trillion dollars spent in Afghanistan, the other military spending and other resources to go to military concern. What I'm suggesting in terms of dollars and cents might be a 40 billion dollar effort. A 40 billion dollar effort with opportunity for cost recovery if we manage the structure of the communication entity properly. This is a pittance when one considers what is at stake. Look into the eyes of your grandchildren and know that our mismanagement will leave them with pain, perhaps death, we may see violence on our own streets unless we attend to the growing challenge of global discord.
OTHER THINKING ON THE SUBJECT
A surging China, a somewhat strident Russia and discord in the Middle East, in combination with other disquieting events in the world, drives the impetus for us to communicate our point of view.
No one begrudges China its success, in fact, one takes a good deal of satisfaction in seeing China's adoption of market modalities grow their economy and their well-being at such a rapid rate. One marvels at China's ingenuity, its infrastructure programs, it's new and progressive stance on the world stage; the new Silk Road for example and so many other initiatives. They have, however, indicated by their actions from time to time, that they are wanting to do more than merely assert their own interests, they seem at times to be challenging the Westphalian imperatives. We need to talk to them, not just their leadership, but to their people too. We need to talk to Russia and Valimere Putin so as to build a good relationship with them, a working relationship. We need to talk to the Middle East in a concerted and effective way.
If we fail to get our message across with words, with music and what other peaceful tools we have at our disposal; then we'll be forced back into the situation we're trying to get away from now, more violence in the Middle East possible confrontation with China and possible confrontation with Russia.
None of these entities want confrontation, we are without the desire for confrontation. When the world order is unstable, as it is now, confrontation tends to come by surprise over what may be a trivial event and escalate very rapidly, as was the case in WW1. Confrontation happens like this when people forget to keep a wary eye on the horizon. The West needs to keep its head up and at present, it seems the West is sleepwalking. It is time to be proactive and actively invest in peace.
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